|
 |
Beginner Arabic: Assimil or Linguaphone | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| ericblair Senior Member United States Joined 4711 days ago 480 posts - 700 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 9 of 14 20 March 2015 at 11:56am | IP Logged |
|
The Arabic on the new English-based Assimil sounds very odd to me. Unlike any Arabic
I've ever heard. I'm considering getting the Linguaphone Arabic course as I have read so many rave reviews that it is the best thing going for Arabic MSA. I had a few questions, though: 1. How slow is the audio on Linguaphone Arabic? The Russian was excruciatingly slow, and I'd feel less comfortable auditing the Arabic audio since I have less familiarity with it (I was closer to intermediate when using the Russian one whereas Arabic I am a complete beginner, so it is possible the Arabic audio being slow wouldn't phase me). 2. Does this course also have tons of extra sounds like phones ringing and crackly connections and all that? 3. Can anyone who has bought it estimate how far it gets you on the CEFR scale? 4. Lastly, any suggestions on how much it is worth paying for? It is only $140 on the refurbished site. But the last time I ordered from there (for the Russian course), it never came, I was still charged, and I had to fight credit card charges and ended up paying closer to $185 on ebay. There is a brand new copy of the Arabic course on there right now for $187. I plan to put in a bid, but was hoping for feedback from users of it as to how valuable the course really is. ie, A. The CEFR level B. What kinds of things will it help me be able to do in the language? C. How much would you be willing to pay? Value is all relative, but there are good used grammar books people buy for $5, for example, that they'd feel were a rip-off at $50. Thanks for anyone's input who wants to provide it. I plan to put in a bid after work today. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| stelingo Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5832 days ago 722 posts - 1076 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian Studies: Russian, Czech, Polish, Greek, Mandarin | Message 10 of 14 21 March 2015 at 12:29am | IP Logged |
|
1. The audio is slow but not excruciatingly so, and it doesn't sound ridiculous like
the Assimil course. I think the speed is just right for a beginner to a complex non Indo-European language. 2. No 3. I would estimate B1. I have to say I have made 2 false starts with it, before getting to Lesson 8 at present. The learning curve gets steep pretty quickly with a lot of vocabulary with few cognates introduced in each lesson. Case endings are introduced in the dialogues without clear explanations. I found this pretty frustrating. After abandoning it twice to use other materials, my knowledge of Arabic has improved, and I can now cope with the case endings. And I do enjoy using Linguaphone. But you may want to supplement it with another beginner's course. I would recommend Mastering Arabic. 4. In the UK the course costs £279/$417 normally from the official website. However these days they always seem to have a discount. At the moment 30% off, so £195/$291. I got my copy (CD version) from ebay for about £70/$100, so I was very happy with that. I also got the Greek version recently for a similar price. $187 seems pretty steep to me, especially if that's the opening bid. I guess it depends how badly you want it. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| ericblair Senior Member United States Joined 4711 days ago 480 posts - 700 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 11 of 14 21 March 2015 at 2:31am | IP Logged |
|
stelingo,
Thank you so much for your reply! Definitely good to hear the audio is better than Assimil Arabic and not as silly as Linguaphone RUssian. B1 would be fantastic. I actually ordered the newest 3rd edition of Mastering Arabic 1 and it just arrived today! So we are on the same wavelength for starting off, it seems. Yeah, it is $187 brand new and unopened. We have gone back and forth a few times on the price. Hopefully he accepts my final proposal since it seems no one else is bidding. If not, I may just give the refurbished site another chance since it is $140 on there. Are you working through Mastering Arabic cover-to-cover, or are you skipping around in it to the corresponding parts covered in Linguaphone? 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| stelingo Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5832 days ago 722 posts - 1076 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian Studies: Russian, Czech, Polish, Greek, Mandarin | Message 12 of 14 21 March 2015 at 12:28pm | IP Logged |
|
I finished Mastering Arabic a couple of years ago and am now working through the second
volume, which I would also recommend. I'm also using Alkitaab as I found a really cheap copy in London. If you read the Amazon reviews, it's the course Arabic students love to hate. But the new edition presents the vocab and dialogues in MSA, Egyptian and Syrian dialects and the dialogues are at a more realistic speed, so I think it has its merits. Finally I'd recommend the resources made by Lingualism 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| ericblair Senior Member United States Joined 4711 days ago 480 posts - 700 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 13 of 14 21 March 2015 at 3:41pm | IP Logged |
|
Awesome. Thanks for the suggestions and for sharing your experiences!
I think what I will do for now is just be sad the Assimil audio is so disconcerting, teach myself the alphabet, work through Mastering Arabic 1, and reassess. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| stelingo Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5832 days ago 722 posts - 1076 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian Studies: Russian, Czech, Polish, Greek, Mandarin | Message 14 of 14 21 March 2015 at 3:46pm | IP Logged |
|
Yes, I think it's a good idea to get some basic Arabic under your belt before tackling
Linguaphone. i personally don't like Assimil, so have never used the Arabic version. 1 person has voted this message useful |
If you wish to post a reply to this topic you must first login. If you are not already registered you must first register
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
